Dryland permaculture on 1/2 acre in the Murray Mallee region

Category Archives: The 13th Principle

You might’ve read this piece when I first wrote it, admittedly I did that with the assistance of a couple of glasses of wine. It was a bit out of the blue and lacking in context, wasn’t it?

I wanted to write this while it is fresh.

I just got asked. “Don’t you want to maybe move to another city, try that, and do this build later on?”

My response, to this fairly typical, middle-class person: “Don’t you want to go off-grid and live simply?And work and have a mortgage later?“

Well, let me wrap a bit of context around it now. I was having a chat with a colleague. He asked me how I am going to pull off this project within the current structure of my life. I told him that there is every chance my partner might end up in another state for work. To that he asked the question. He was taken aback by the answer, but this is something I am familiar with. I am moving way outside the norm and people feel uncomfortable about that. And what’s why I want to pose the question, clearly and directly, and have a discussion about this with people from all sorts of perspectives.

The norm. The Monday to Friday, work-and-play, have some kids along the way (perhaps), norm. What is it meant to achieve? Why don’t more people challenge it?

Yes, yes, I know it’s a bit of a rhetorical question. One that I absolutely possess a strong opinion on. I am just curious as to what other people have to say, for it is obviously something we are very interested in–apparent by the vigor which which some defend it.